Veldheer wins “Jared Bowl” over Allen

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MINNEAPOLIS -- Carson Palmer sought out his young left tackle in the Raiders' victorious postgame locker room.He went to Jared Veldheer and shook his head."Do you realize," Palmer wondered, "what you did out there today?"A few minutes later, in recounting the story for reporters, Palmer smiled and shrugged.Said Palmer: "I don't think it's hit him yet."

Fittingly enough, neither was Palmer hit by Minnesota defensive end Jared Allen.Veldheer not only pitched a shutout at the NFL's leading sack master, but also ended Allen's streak of games with at least one sack at 11 in the Raiders' 27-21 defeat of the Vikings."He didn't have any help, either," Palmer said.In this edition of Jared on Jared Violence, Veldheer was the clear victor. Truly, the only negative was a holding call he got early in the second quarter.Even if Allen was slow to give the second-year pro from Division-II Hillsdale College much credit."Yeah, the one I got held on, if (Veldheer) wouldn't have tackled me I would have made it (and sacked Palmer)," said Allen, who has 13 12 sacks on the season. "They did a good job. Carson Palmer is a good quarterback. He does a good job of sitting in that pocket and staying behind those big offensive linemen, five or six yards deep."It's a Catch-22 -- if you go up top, he steps underneath. If you go under, he steps up top."The 6-feet 6, 270-pound Allen was limited to just two tackles, both assists, and not a single quarterback hit, even as the Vikings had four sacks as a team."Allen's the best pass rusher in the league," said Raiders rookie lineman Stefen Wisniewski. "What Jared did, doesn't surprise us."The 6-feet-8, 315-pound Veldheer, though, was taking his personal victory in stride.After all, he's only given up two sacks in 10 games, after allowing 7 12 as a rookie, and he's only been called for six penalties all year, compared to 15 last season.Veldheer gave credit to the entire offensive line, particularly left guard Wisniewski and, when Wisniewski moved to center in the second half in the wake of Samson Satele's concussion, Stephon Heyer."They were sliding to their left," Veldheer said. "That way I can work my set like I can."It's all part of the mindset here. Every person offers something and plays a role in that. Plus, it wasn't like we were living in 3rd-and-long all day, either. So to say I did (all) that, it doesn't give much justice to what happened out there."Still, Palmer, who had a 107.9 passer rating, was impressed. And thankful that his blind side stayed clean and, yes, untouched by Allen."I know where No. 69 is at all times," Palmer said, "but I didn't notice him much at all today."

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